The invention concerns chromate coating compositions for steel sheets which have a zinc based plating.
Chromate coating compositions in which chromic acid or a dichromate salt is dissolved in water and which are suitable for use on the surface of steel sheets which have a zinc based plating are known as a means of providing anti-rust properties and as undercoatings for painting.
These chromate coating compositions do not require the zinc plated steel sheet to be washed with water after coating and they are comparatively simple to use. Moreover they are inexpensive and provide excellent corrosion resistance and for these reasons they are widely used.
However when a conventional chromate coating composition consisting of an aqueous solution of chromic acid or a dichromate salt is used on a steel sheet which has a zinc based plating it is possible to obtain a film which is adequate in terms of corrosion resistance with a fresh composition but as the bath is used over a period of time in the chromate coating process it is affected by the presence of the zinc which is dissolved into the composition and the trivalent chromium which is formed by reduction so that the performance of the aged chromate composition becomes poor and films which have a lower level of performance than that obtained with a fresh composition are formed. Hence the chromate coating composition has to be discarded and replenished frequently in order to achieve a level of performance similar to that attained with a fresh solution and this is undesirable from the point of view of operability and from the point of view of avoiding pollution.
Furthermore when painting is to be carried out the chromate films have poorer paint binding properties than those attainable with a phosphate film and there is also some paint selectivity and so adequate testing must be carried out before painting.
This invention is intended to provide chromate coating compositions which are superior to the conventional chromate coating compositions in respect of their corrosion resistance and paint undercoating properties when forming films on steel plates which have a zinc based plating.